Through the Looking Glass
by iDefyGravity
Summary: AU. After Diana, Cassie, and Donna are left orphaned by their mother's shooting, the Kents offer to take them in. They accept the offer and all seems well until they learn that their mother's shooting was more than a case of the wrong place at the wrong time...


Title: Through the Looking Glass  
Author: iDefy Gravity  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Character death, violence  
Summary: AU. After Diana, Cassie, and Donna are left orphaned by their mother's shooting, the Kents offer to take them in. They accept the offer and all seems well until they learn that their mother's shooting was more than a case of the wrong place at the wrong time...  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. They belong to DC. I'm just borrowing them.  
Author's Note: Reviews are love...

"Goodbye, Mom," fifteen year old Diana Prince whispered, her voice thick with tears, as they turned off the life support machines that had kept her mother alive for the past three months. Diana wondered if the man who had shot her mother even cared about the pain he had caused.

It seemed like only yesterday that she and her mother had gone shopping. She could still hear the sound of gunshot. Could still see the blood spilling from her mother's chest. Could still see the life leaving her. They had revived her in the ambulance but, after three months worth of tests, they had finally realized that she would never regain consciousness.

She looked over at her little sisters, Cassie and Donna, who were sobbing openly. "Come here," Diana said, swallowing the lump in her throat. They did as they were told and she placed an arm around each of them. She had no words of comfort, for her sisters or herself. Any way she looked at it, it all still seemed like a horrible nightmare. But she knew that this was real life. Blinking away tears, she led her little sisters out of the room.

As they walked out into the hallway, Diana could tell that Martha and Jonathan had been discussing something.

"Cassie, Donna, why don't you go with Pa to get us all some food," Martha said quietly. Diana could see the sympathy written on her face.

Diana watched as Jonathan walked down the hall with her two sisters and, finally, the realization set in and she slid down the wall. Tears slipped down her cheeks and she furiously wiped them away. She would not break down. She couldn't afford to. She had to think of Cassie and Donna.

Clark sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "You know, it's times like these I wish you would take your own advice."

"W-What do you mean," Diana asked, sniffling. Normally, she'd have raked him over the coals for that comment.

"Remember when Sammie died? You said, and I quote, 'It's okay to cry.' So why don't you take your own advice?"

"I can't," she said, shaking her head. "I have to figure out what I'm going to do from here. We're going to stop receiving assistance because my mother is dead. I only have a hundred dollars saved saved from my job at the diner. And my mother's life insurance is only just going to cover the funeral and medical bills. I just don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"Diana," Martha said softly, crouching down next to the two teens. "Why don't you move in with Pa and me? Donna can share a room with Kara and you and Cassie can have the spare room."

"Mrs. Kent, I-I can't take advantage of you like that."

"Who says you'd be taking advantage," Martha asked. "Lyta Prince was like a sister to me, Diana. You and Clark have grown up together and you _know_ that they're not going to let a fifteen year old raise two children."

"They've let me so far," Diana said, feeling desperate. She knew that they'd be losing their childhood home and all the things their mother was working so hard for.

"Diana, I know this is hard," Martha said, placing a gentle hand on the young girl's shoulder. "But you're only fifteen and you don't have the ability to go to school and take care of a three year old and an eight year old."

"I know," she said, tears slipping down her cheeks. She took a deep breath. "Okay. But we're going to earn our keep."

"I would expect nothing less. You and your sisters can do chores around the house just like my three," she said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Now come on, you and Clark get up off that dirty floor."

Clark stood up first and held out his hand to help Diana up. She took his hand and stood up, only to feel quite dizzy. She stumbled a bit before gaining her balance.

"You okay," Clark asked, leading her over to a chair in the lobby, away from her mother's room.

"Yeah. I don't know what happened."

"When was the last time you ate something," Martha asked, taking a seat next to her.

"Um..." The truth was Diana hadn't eaten all day. She didn't much feel like eating but she knew Martha would make her eat. And it would make her a bit of a hypocrite, considering the fact that she'd nearly force-fed Cassie a few times since the shooting.

"Well, here comes Jonathan and the girls. And it looks like they brought sandwiches." As they got closer, Diana could tell that her sisters were still very upset. Cassie had barely even touched the chocolate chip cookie clutched in her tiny little hand. Donna hadn't eaten much of her cookie either.

"Come on girls, eat," Jonathan urged, unwrapping their sandwiches and handing one to each of them. "I know you're sad, but you have to keep your strength up."

Diana took a small bite of hers, knowing that Cassie and Donna would follow her lead.

"Diana, when are we going home," Cassie asked, taking a nibble out of her cookie. Diana didn't bother telling her to eat her sandwich first. She figured that even a cookie was better than nothing.

"We're going to go live with the Kents," Diana said softly. Donna and Cassie looked as though they were going to burst into tears.

"W-What about Lola," Cassie asked tearfully. Lola was their Basset Hound and she'd been with them since before Cassie was born.

Diana sighed and was about to speak but Martha beat her to it. "Lola can come too, honey. Krypto will be happy to have a friend."

Diana felt like she was going to burst into tears of gratitude when she saw the first hints of smiles on her sisters' faces in what seemed like forever. "Thank you," she choked out, trying not to burst into tears once more.


End file.
